The Wimbledon men's singles semifinals take place at the All England Club on Friday.
If ever a Grand Slam semifinal involving Spain's Carlos Alcaraz could be described as a warm-up act that could be a fair description of his clash with American Taylor Fritz in the opening match on Centre Court.
Second seed Alcaraz, bidding for a third successive Wimbledon title and a sixth Grand Slam title in total, has got better and better throughout the fortnight and will be a overwhelming favourite to end the run of the big-serving fifth seed Fritz.
Following their duel, a mouth-watering battle of the generations between seven-time champion Novak Djokovic and world No 1 Jannik Sinner will take the prime time slot as both players continue their history-making quests.
ALCARAZ CLOSING IN ON HAT-TRICK CLUB
When the 22-year-old Alcaraz needed five sets to get past veteran Italian Fabio Fognini in the first round it appeared that the physical and mental toil of defending his French Open crown had perhaps left him vulnerable.
Since then, however, Alcaraz has begun to look unstoppable in his quest to become only the fifth man in the professional era to win three successive Wimbledon crowns, joining Bjorn Borg, Pete Sampras, Roger Federer and Novak Djokovic.
The way he fought off inspired Russian Andrey Rublev in the last 16 and then dismantled Britain's Cameron Norrie in the quarterfinals suggests Alcaraz is peaking at the right time.
He won both his previous matches against Fritz but this is the first time they have met at a Grand Slam and while Alcaraz will be heavy favourite, he will be wary of the 27-year-old American who is bidding to reach his second Grand Slam final in less than a year.
While Alcaraz has an array of tools for all surfaces, Fritz's game is easier to summarise. Big serve. Big forehand.
He has won 82 per cent of points when landing his first serve and a tournament leading 65 per cent of second serve points and if that potent weapon is working well in his first grass court meeting with Alcaraz he will have a puncher's chance of an upset.
"I'm happy that we're not playing at the French Open on clay with the French Open balls because that would be an absolute nightmare," Fritz said following his quarterfinal win over Karen Khachanov in which he dropped three points on his first serve in the opening two sets.
"I think grass is very much an equaliser. So trust in how I'm playing. I truly know the way that I played the first two sets (against Khachanov), there's not much any opponent on the other side can do."
DJOKOVIC DEFYING TIME, CAN HE STOP SINNER?
Serbian Djokovic is 38, an age at which tennis players are supposed to be winding down for retirement, if they have not hung up their rackets already.
Yet, incredibly, Djokovic continues to defy the ageing process in his quest to add yet more milestones to a career which has scaled heights no other player has managed, namely an unprecedented 25th Grand Slam title and a men's record-equalling eighth Wimbledon crown.
His numbers are astonishing. He will be making his record-extending 52nd Grand Slam semifinal appearance on Friday in what will be his record 14th visit to the last four at Wimbledon. Should he win, he would reach his 38th Grand Slam final, another record, and he could still become the oldest player to win a Grand Slam singles title in the Open era.
Most of all though, what drives him is trying to prove he can still cut it with the players expected to be dominating the game long after he has finally called it a day.
"It motivates me to see how much can I still keep going with these guys toe-to-toe," said Djokovic, who lost to Sinner in the French Open semifinal last month.
"I lost straight sets to Jannik in the semis of Roland Garros. I think I played a solid match. He was just the better player when the moments were important. So, I get another opportunity. You couldn't ask for a bigger challenge."
Sinner is a player built very much in Djokovic's image. His line-seeking ground strokes are lethal, his defensive game almost impregnable and his serve now a formidable weapon.
The 23-year-old three-time Grand Slam champion also has his own history to make by becoming the first Italian to win a Wimbledon singles title and has a point to prove after his stinging loss to Alcaraz in a French Open final for the ages.
WIMBLEDON ORDER OF PLAY ON FRIDAY (prefix number denotes seeding)
Centre Court (play begins 1230 GMT)
Men's singles (semifinals)
5-Taylor Fritz (United States) v 2-Carlos Alcaraz (Spain)
Followed by
1-Jannik Sinner (Italy) v 6-Novak Djokovic (Serbia)